Texas secession: Fact and fiction

More than 65,000 people have signed an electronic petition to the White House asking President Barack Obama to allow Texas to “withdraw from the United States of America.”

In other words … SECESSION !!!!!

Give us liberty! (Steve Dunwell/Getty Images)

Here is the rebels’ rallying cry, right from the White House web site:

“Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union, and to do so would protect it’s citizens’ standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers which are no longer being reflected by the federal government.”

Texas patriotism, perhaps. But this secession business is not simply a social media exercise. It takes blood, sweat and tears — emphasis on the blood.

Here are some facts and frequently believed misconceptions about Texas secession:

Fact or fiction? As a condition of its admission to the Union, Texas was given the unilateral power to return to its former Lone Star Republic status if it so chose.

FICTION.

Gov. Rick Perry is responsible for spreading this widely held misconception. Three years ago, he declared, “When we came into the Union in 1845, one of the issues was that we’d be able to leave if we decided to do that.”

That’s just plain not true.

Texas has no right to secede. But the bottom line is that any state — or confederation of states — can illegally secede from the Union. But the result, as we discovered in 1861, is Civil War.

Fact or fiction: Texas is permitted to divide itself into five states.

FACT.

The 1845 Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas affirms Texas’ right to divide itself into five states if it chooses. Here’s the relevant passage, written in 19th century legalese:

“New States, of convenient size, not exceeding four in number, in addition to said State of Texas, and having sufficient population, may hereafter, by the consent of the said State, be formed out of the territory thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of the federal constitution.”

Texas has never tested the treaty of annexation. But it is possible that ten senators could, at some point, represent the current territory of Texas. How ’bout East Texas, West Texas, Central Texas, South Texas and North Texas?

At the same 2009 Tea Party event in Austin, Perry made news when he said he would understand why some people in Texas might want to leave our “great Union.”

“If Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what may came — what may come — out of that,” he said.

You know where that was leading. But the governor has never — ever — endorsed secession.

During his presidential race, Perry repeatedly said that he does not favor secession. After the secession petition took off, Perry’s press secretary, Catherine Frazier, underscored his opposition to secession with this statement:

“Gov. Perry believes in the greatness of our Union and nothing should be done to change it. But he also shares the frustrations many Americans have with our federal government. Now more than ever our country needs strong leadership from states like Texas, that are making tough decisions to live within their means, keep taxes low and provide opportunities to job creators so their citizens can provide for their families and prosper.”

Here’s the video that set tongues wagging about Perry and secession:

Fact or fiction: There is widespread support in Texas for secession.

FICTION.

Secession fervor south of the Red River? Not quite. More like a loud but small minority.

There hasn’t been any recent polling, but a 2009 Rasmussen Reports survey found that 31 percent of Texans say the state has a right to secede but just 18 percent of Texans would vote to secede from the U.S. if given a choice. Three-fourths of Texas citizens say they oppose secession.

That 18 percent figure is identical to the percentage of Americans who say they favor allowing their state or region to secede from the nation, according to a 2008 Zogby poll. So Texas is no more secessionist than, say, Alaska. Or Rhode Island.

Twice as many Texans favor same-sex marriage as secession. Or, as Republican message-meister Frank Luntz would say, more Texans believe in UFOs than in secession.

Fact or fiction: Rick Perry is already the commander-in-chief of Texas Armed Forces.

FACT.

Although Perry is almost the only governor to describe himself that way, he is in fact the commander of the Texas National Guard, which includes 25,500 members of the Texas Army National Guard, the Texas Air National Guard and Texas State Guard. He also is the commander of the Texas Rangers.

But, as President Dwight Eisenhower proved when he integrated Little Rock’s Central High School more than five decades ago, the commander-in-chief in Washington can nationalize National Guard forces and require them to follow orders from the president, not the governor.

One additional note: The governor of Texas is not the commander of active duty U.S. military forces in Texas. So he can’t commandeer Fort Hood, Fort Bliss or the San Antonio military command the way the Confederacy took Fort Sumter.

Fact or fiction: The Texas Legislature has the authority to nullify federal laws it dislikes.

FICTION.

Like secession, nullification is one of those extra-legal concepts that was hotly debated during the decades leading up to the Civil War. South Carolina provoked a constitutional crisis in 1832 by adopting an “Ordinance of Nullification” to protest a protective tariff enacted by Congress. Federal lawmakers responded with a Force Bill empowering President Andrew Jackson to use military power against South Carolina, which in turn repealed its Ordinance of Nullification on March 11, 1833.

Nullification threats have occurred sporadically in the past 180 years, including states opposed to enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Today, some states are effectively nullifying federal drug laws by legalizing marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes. And Republican legislators in states such as Texas are threatening to block enforcement of Obamacare. The issue may yet reach the U.S. Supreme Court.